


Sand Castles

by Exiledfromazerath1316



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 04:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19349425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exiledfromazerath1316/pseuds/Exiledfromazerath1316
Summary: You know what they say,You really can't go home againEddward returns home for the first time in 10 years and learns that as much as things change, everything stays the same





	Sand Castles

White Rabbit 

4:30AM  
Eddward peered down at his thermos of coffee as he thrust his forearm and elbow against the glass door of New York University School of Medicine, 20 minutes early for his check in with the Physician Scientist Residency Program. Manilla folders tucked haphazardly under his other arm shifted as he beelined down the sterile, white hallway, past various offices and to the office break room. His mailbox was already stuffed with memos and Eddward found himself fishing them out of the thin wooden mailbox before he even had a moment to punch in for the day. Participating in an accelerated residency program wasn’t easy, but Eddward appreciated the distraction and the fast paced environment. 

It almost made it easier to ignore the voicemail he received this morning, the desperate cracking of his childhood friend’s voice unable to be dismissed by the notoriously bad cell signal back home. 

“Double D? It’s Ed. Something happened...Sarah...She...Well...I mean I know it’s been a long time since we spoke but...you know, I’m not too good at all of this legal stuff and paperwork...and since mom and dad are gone I just...I'm all she has and I….I know you’re studying to be a doctor so I thought maybe you could help me deal with this…” 

Raspy gravel of Ed’s voice scraped against the phone receiver, hiccups of stifled sobs perforated the even tone Ed had been trying to convey. Eddward’s mind buzzed loudly over the recording as he played it over again. 

“....Overdosing…” 

Once. 

“Life support….” 

Twice. 

“Health Care Proxy” 

Three times. 

“If you would please call me back...even if it’s to say you can’t come...It would mean the world to us…” 

“She might die, Double D. Please call me back.” 

Eddward’s fingers fumbled with the various memos left to him by his supervisors. He had charts to fill out. Rounds to complete. He had a report to file with the CDC regarding an outbreak of Whooping cough and a meeting with the Academic Board to discuss next year’s residency. He couldn’t think about his best friend, confused and alone sorting through legal documents and medical information he would never be able to fully understand on his own; He was a comic book illustrator, not a lawyer after all. Where was Eddy? Why wasn’t he helping Ed? They both still lived back home, in the cul-de-sac, where everyone stayed for the most part. Where was Rolf? Naz? …..Kevin? 

Eddward shook his head as if it could erase memories of the red head from his mind like an etch-a-sketch. Now was not the time to be thinking about Kevin. 

Were any of them even still there anymore? 

“Eddward I almost couldn’t keep up with yo...Oh, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost!” Red hair pulled into a messy ponytail and shining green eyes were suddenly intercepting his field of vision. Veronica, Eddward’s fiance and coworker, a fellow student and friend. He had almost forgotten that they would be working together today. It seems like he had forgotten a lot of things. 

“Oh, forgive me Rhonnie. I was just thinking about my meeting this afternoon.” She smelt like lilac and springtime and radiated heat like the sun. A fine partner indeed. He looked forward to their union next year, when they’ve graduated from their residency and really started in their field. He really couldn’t ask for a more perfect arrangement.

“Please call me back.” Ed’s voice rang in his head again, forcing Eddward to flinch. Rhonnie didn’t miss this, crouching her eyebrows in concern. 

“Are you sure that’s all it is?” Eddward hesitated for a moment before answering. He should be able to tell his future wife about this, right? Right? 

“A childhood friend...he called asking for some help. He has..a learning disability...among other things...and he’s having some difficulty arranging some services for his sister.” There, that didn’t sound too alarming, right?

“Oh! Well are you going to go help them?” Her innocent inquiry made Eddward feel that perhaps he would be able to get through this conversation unscathed. 

“Oh I’m not sure...It’s such a long drive and I haven’t seen any of them in..in close to ten years.” Eddward felt his jaw slack at the realization; he was 28 and he had left the cul-de-sac behind after his high school graduation at 18 years old. 

“You’ve never told me much about your childhood, Edd. Were you close?” “Oh yes. Very. Practically brothers, we did everything together. We had such big ideas and plans for the future and then we just…” Eddward’s smile faded, relaxing down into a tight lip frown, almost like his lips were discouraging him from speaking the rest of that sentence. 

“Grew apart.” When I left. 

Eddward looked down at his hands, focusing on the faded, jagged scar stretching from the center of his right palm to just peeking over to the top of his hand. That graduation weekend ten years ago would haunt him forever it seemed, no matter how hard he tried to forget it. 

“Maybe it would be a good idea to go help your friend.”

Eddward pursed his lips, twitched his thumbs to scrape the scars on the back of his head, now hidden in his properly grown out hair.

“Please Double D, I don’t know what to do.” 

6:38PM

So somehow, Eddward found himself bracing for the bumpy roads that the Uber carried him over to his modest but still expensively out of place childhood home. He had just as much verbal contact with his parents as he did as a child and only slightly less face to face time.

They gave him the security code for the front door, a fancy ADP security system installed at some point after Eddward graduated high school, So when Eddward stood at the foot of the driveway, a small suitcase and duffle bag in hand, he had no excuse to stall before opening the door. 

Regardless, he still stood meekly, hesitantly with his fingertips gracing the numerical buttons. 

The air had a familiar smell, like summertime fresh cut lawns and water from sprinklers and hoses. Like hope and nervous laughter and first kisses and scraped knees and bruises.  
Of first loves and best friends for life and parents whom he obligately loved but often wondered what it would feel like to just admit the truth that he had experienced more emotional contact from strangers. 

The door opened silently and Eddward could feel himself almost transport back more than 10 years. The pristine, cream white rugs and matching drapes. The heather gray furniture and fireplace that was never lit and eerily impersonal generic art littering the walls. He could remember all of the times he’d had to bleach that carpet and mend those drapes. How many times had he spent hours learning how to get egg and superglue stains out of the couch, or cream spinach or Ed’s sweat stains from the walls.  
The kitchen had been remodeled since Eddward’s last visit, though Eddward could not quite remember when that might have been. The classic wood paneling was replaced with steel, aluminum, metal finishes and pristine countertops. Eddward fingered the post it note left by their housekeeper; eddward was almost pleased to see that Ms. Martha was still employed for his parents. 

The fridge was stocked with his childhood favorites and Eddward made a mental note to leave a thank you card for Ms. Martha before he left to go back to New York. 

The startle that vibrated up his spine thrust him back into the present, now suddenly feeling his fingertips scraping against the thin skin of his scalp. He pulled back his fingers to study them and noticed the fresh droplet of blood already pooling under his fingernails. He clenched his fist; he had only been home for fifteen minutes and he was already falling back into old habits that he was sure he’d outgrown. 

“Darn.” He muttered. Here he thought his compulsive disorders were well under control. He didn't miss the bald patches on the back of his scalp, or the eyebrows he had once plucked into oblivion and then never grew back in properly.  
The stairs should have creaked when he heaved his suitcase upstairs but they didn't. His bedroom should have been turned into a guest room but it was not.  
Books and science equipment advanced as he aged, but save for the full sized pristine bed, very little had changed. His microscope was still in its chaotic plastic dust protector and his ant farm had been long since abandoned, ants freed in 9th grade and since cleaned and stored. 

His old, black beanie rested nearly on the faux mannequin head on the bed side table, somehow mocking Eddward with its presence.  
He fingered the familiar worn fabric, perfectly washed and wrinkle free as if it had never sat in a cardboard box in a closet.  
He peered into the mirror on the back of his closet door before gently tugging it down over his head and just over his ears. If it weren't for the sharpening of his jawline and the aging around his eyes, he could almost fool himself into thinking he was 14 again. 

"Just while I'm here." He promised himself, adjusting the tuke a little father forward. 

"Just for now and then never again."

**Author's Note:**

> Tbc


End file.
